Is it cheaper to buy a car or lease a car?

Answers

Leasing a car is meant for business people where they use the car for work and can claim all the lease payments as well as fuel and maintenance costs off their tax. It allows them to buy a vehicle with little upfront cost so they can get a more prestigious vehicle to impress clients to believe they are doing well at their business so must be good to deal with, or to buy expensive equipment like trucks or specialised machinery they cannot afford outright or the tax advantages for the business make it worth leasing instead of buying.
The big disadvantage is by just leasing you never get to own the vehicle unless you pay an agreed pay out figure at the end of the lease period. At the end of the lease period you either give the car back in good condition for them to sell or you pay out the agreed amount to own it.
Personally unless you can get a tax write off for using your car I would think leasing is the more expensive way to get a car. It is the ability to write off the lease and running costs of the car that makes leasing attractive to those who do it. It is the ability to write off several thousands of dollars a year off your taxable income for the costs of leasing and running the car that makes leasing attractive to some. I think for the average wage earner buying it would be the cheaper and better option in the long run as it is yours right from day one as long as you can make the loan costs, and is a sellable asset in hard times where a leased car you are stuck with the lease costs for the entire length of the contract and have no options should you find you cannot make the payments as you cannot sell it and pay back the lease company as you can with a car bought with a loan and maximise the sale price where you may come out with some spare money, whereas with a lease they will take it back and sell it and charge you the difference between the lease costs and the pittance they sold the car for.
I would not lease a car for private use.

It can be either, depending entirely on your needs and budget. A lease can be cheaper if you can stay within the rules of the lease (mostly the miles allowed). If you need something to drive long distances on a regular basis, a lease may end up costing you a huge amount of money at the end.

I prefer to buy instead of getting into a long-term rental agreement, but others prefer to lease. The upside to a lease is you just walk away from a vehicle every 2-3 years and drive off in a newly leased model. Doing so when buying can end up with you owing a huge payment every month if you can't pay cash, as the remainder of the old loan is added into the new loan over and over again.

It depends what sort of buying, leasing can be cheaper than those car dealerships that lend to people with bad credit but if you have the cash for a decent enough car then buy one, or if you can get a good finance deal then buy one. Use your head, with so many options and so much depending on your credit score or how much money you actually have you need to shop around yourself. Some finance deals are so bad that the car will be clapped out by the time you've paid for it.